Old Souls
by Andromytta
Summary: When Dean and Sam work a case with a hunter from the past, they find out she's more than meets the eye. Strongly implied Destiel slash in future chapters. Deals with reincarnation. ***WARNING: Mature Content***
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Found any jobs for us yet? I'm bored," Dean Winchester asks. He and his brother, Sam, are sitting at the conference table in the Men of Letters bunker researching for a case. Suddenly, both of their phones chime with a text alert.

"Got a weird one. Come quick. 911," Sam reads aloud and looks over at Dean.

"Mine says the same. And there's coordinates."

Sam types the coordinates into his laptop. "It's not far," he says just as their phones chime again.

"Meet me at the coroner's office," Dean reads from the phone screen.

"Do you recognize the number?" Sam asks.

"Nope. It could be a trap," Dean adds, "Let's go."

Sam hesitates. "What about that part where it could be a trap?"

"Can't be that bad, whoever this is wants to meet at the morgue," Dean points out, thinking he's being logical.

"Well, great, then we could be walking in on some demon or witch that can control the dead or something," Sam argues.

"Great, then I can shoot some frickin' zombies," Dean says as he packs up his bag and heads to the garage.

* * *

The tall, handsome brothers walk up to the front desk in the small town's coroner's office and flash their fake FBI badges to the receptionist. "We're Agents…" Dean starts

"Taylor and Swift?" the young woman behind the desk finishes. "Your other agent is in the morgue with the coroner. Right this way, I'll show you." She moves from behind the desk and indicates the guys should follow her.

"Taylor and Swift? Awesome." Dean whispers to Sam.

"Yeah, weird. Maybe we're meeting Cas?" Sam speculates.

The young receptionist turns around and addresses them, "Your other agent was right. She said you guys are handsome."

Dean and Sam look at each other quizzically and mouth at the same time, "She?"

They enter the morgue and the receptionist simply states, "Your other agents are here," and she leaves the room.

Sam and Dean see a young woman, maybe in her mid to late 20s, dressed in a well-tailored suit speaking with the coroner. Recognition sparks in both of them as they take in her long red hair, attractive figure, and legs that won't quit.

"Cherry St. Cloud!" Sam and Dean exclaim at the same time. They look at each other and say in unison, "You know her?"

"Um, yeah," Dean starts. "I worked a job with her while you were at Stanford. That Vatala case I told you about."

Cherry walks up and interrupts. "Yeah, and I had to save his ass because he was under the impression that Vatalas are lone hunters." She looks over at Sam, "And I had to save your ass from a nasty nest of vampires."

Sam looks at Dean and says almost sheepishly, "You were in hell."

"Agent St. Cloud?" the coroner calls to her from across the room. "There was one more thing I wanted to show you."

"Agent St. Cloud?" Dean asks incredulously, "Why do you get to use your real name and we have to be Taylor Swift?" he asks under his breath.

"And are you sure my real name is Cherry St. Cloud?" She asks with a wink of her sparkling blue eyes and heads over to where the coroner waits.

"Wow, talk about a blast from the past," Sam states, then looks over at Dean, "Did you sleep with her?"

Rolling his eyes, Dean answers, "Look at her. She's hot. Of course I slept with her….Wait, did YOU sleep with her?"

Before Sam can answer, Cherry returns and answers for him, as if she heard their conversation from across the room. "Believe me, Sam was in no shape to sleep with anyone when I rescued him. And even if he was, I wouldn't." Looking him up and down, she adds, "I mean, you're cute and all, but not my type. Too much hair."

Dean points at Sam and silently laughs at him. Cutting him off before any insults ensue, Sam asks Cherry, "So what are we dealing with? A bloodsucker of some sort, I would imagine. That's what your family hunted, what you specialize in, right?"

"Oh, good memory, Sam. And yeah, this might be a bloodsucker, but it's a weird one. Check out this body." She leads them over to the slab.

"What the hell?" Dean asks, "It looks like an angel kill, what with the eyeballs all burned out and stuff."

"Right," Cherry answers, "But since when are angel kills totally exsanguinated? There is not a single drop of blood left in this body."

"So what is this? Something new?" Sam asks. "Maybe something that was left behind while Eve was sprung from purgatory?"

"Ugh, Eve," Cherry says under her breath with a slight shudder. Looking up at the boys, she answers, "No, not new. Meet me at the Sliver Moon Motel, room 113. I have more information there."

* * *

The boys approach the motel room, and in unison mutter, "Room 113, of course."

When Cherry answers the door, Dean can't help but ask, "Do you always get room 113?"

"Of course. 13 is my lucky number," she states as if it was obvious.

They all go into the cheap motel room and see books and papers and maps spread out all over the bed, desk, and floor.

"So what do you know about this creature?" Sam asks, getting right down to business.

"Well, this creature, this monster, surfaces every 40 years to hunt." Cherry pauses as if she's doing math in her head, "My grandmother faced her last time. My family has been hunting this thing for generations."

Cherry shows the brothers her grandmother's journal as well as all the notes she'd taken from the coroner's report. "You have basically the exact same handwriting as her," Sam observes.

"Um, yeah," Cherry replies absently. "What I've been able to discern from the kills 40 years ago and the victims now is that they are all men who've lied to women. The guy in the morgue lied to his coworker about a promotion that was supposed to be hers. The last victim 40 years ago was cheating on his wife."

Reading from the journal, Sam continues Cherry's train of thought. "Yeah, and it looks like your grandmother tried to bait the creature. She actually got a local man who was lying to his family to volunteer."

Cherry interrupts him, "Yeah, a marine. He wanted to help. And he was only lying about how combat changed him. He wasn't cheating or anything."

"Whoa, getting a little defensive over some dead dude from 40 years ago," Dean says jokingly.

"I'm not defensive," Cherry says defensively. "Anyway, we'll get it this time. I've got something she didn't have before."

"What's that?" Sam asks.

"The Winchesters," she says with a smile.

Dean, feeling the need to take charge of the situation as he always does, pipes up. "So, here's the plan: I'll bait this…whatever this is. It wants something that lies to women, well, here I am. It's kinda my M.O. And while this bloodsucking bitch is focused on me, you and Sam can swoop in and kill it. Your grandmother did have an idea about how to kill the thing, right?"

"Well, maybe," Cherry says hesitantly. "She thought the way to kill it was with a silver bullet and a beheading…but after she shot it, the thing got her bait and took off, not to be seen for another 40 years," she said the last part with a hit of sadness and determination in her voice.

"So, we'll shoot it, behead it, and burn it." Dean suggests.

"We may not have to shoot it," Cherry says, "I-my grandmother theorized that beheading it with a silver blade and burning the remains should take care of it once and for all. And I happen to have three silver bladed machetes." She pulls the weapons out of a closet and hands one to each of the guys.

"Awesome!" Dean says, waiving the blade around, getting a feel for it.

"So where do we find this thing so we can throw Dean at it?" Sam asks.

"Well, all the bodies were found in the same warehouse, which miraculously has survived for the last 40 years." Cherry informs him. "I've got the address. Let's go."

"I'm driving," Dean states.

* * *

They arrive at the deserted warehouse, and Dean goes in alone. "Well? You like to kill lying men? Here I am, full of blood for you to drink and eyeballs for you to burn. Come on out you coward!"

The creature suddenly appears. A lovely young woman with pale skin, dark hair, and darker eyes approaches him. She looks him over and sniffs the air around him. "You're not the one I seek!" She hisses, then knocks him over and floats over to the door of the warehouse. "What I want is out there!"

Sam and Cherry rush in, machetes at the ready. The creature turns towards Sam, but before she can focus on him, she sees Cherry. "You again? You don't give up, do you?" Looking Cherry up and down, again smelling the air, the creature continues to taunt the hunter. "And this time you brought a friend, someone you care about for me to destroy. How thoughtful!" The creature flings Cherry across the room, and focuses on Sam. She moves in the blink of an eye, pinning Sam against the wall. She stares into his green eyes with a burning glare, as if trying to burn the lies out of his brain. As her eyes burn holes into his skull, she bares her fangs and starts to bite into his neck. Before she can do any real damage, Cherry, who has recovered quickly from the creature's attack, runs up behind her and with the swift skill from years of hunting, she chops the creature's head off with one smooth chop.

"Sam! Are you alright?" Cherry asks with concern in her voice.

"Yeah, I don't think that thing had a chance to do much damage. Guess this is the second time you've saved my ass?"

"Well, this time I'm the one who put your ass in danger in the first place. Only fitting I should save it," she says in an attempt at apology.

"Well, ok then. But where's Dean? What happened to him? And why did the creature focus on me?"

"I have a theory about that, but let's take care of things here in case that thing regenerates before we can burn it." Cherry looks around the dark warehouse and spots a lump across the room. "I found Dean." Quickly, she makes her way over to him. "He's unconscious, but I think he's going to be ok."

"Well, then, we should wake him up and burn this thing and bury it."

"Don't worry, I know just how to wake him," Cherry says with a smile in her voice. She kisses him full on the mouth, which works like a charm.

"Whoa, what happened? My head hurts," Dean says as he comes too.

"Lady monster kicked your ass," Sam explains.

"Son of a bitch, that hurt. But, wasn't she supposed to so that you guys could kill her ass?"

"Not quite," Cherry piped in, "Monster decided Sam would taste better. She knocked you out, and tried to knock me out, but I rescued Sam. Again."

The three hunters burn the creature's remains and bury the ashes of the body and head in separate graves. Back at Cherry's motel room, they discuss the events of the evening.

"I still don't understand why the creature went after me instead of Dean. He lies to women WAY more than I do. I mean, he got an Amazon pregnant because she thought he was a rich banker!"

"Well, like I said, I have a theory about that," Cherry responds. Turning to Dean, she asks, "All those women you've lied too, were you in love with any of them?"

Pausing and thinking before answering, Dean finally speaks up, "No. They were, well, just girls. The ones I had real feelings for I didn't lie to about who I was."

Sam sinks onto the bed, dejected. "And I have. I never told Jessica about the 'family business,' and it got her killed. And then there was Amelia. She still doesn't know why I really had to leave."

Cherry sits down next to Sam. "Exactly. The creature wasn't just after any liars. Only those who lied to those they love."

"Wait," Dean interjects, "What about the guy in the morgue here. Didn't he lie about a promotion or something?"

"Yeah," Cherry says, "The coworker who got passed up, she was also his girlfriend."

"There's another thing I don't understand," Sam spoke up, clearly trying to not dwell on his failed relationships. "Why did the creature act like she knew Cherry? I mean, it was like she recognized you or something."

"Oh, that," Cherry said, almost as if she was stalling to think of an answer to his question. "Well…let's just say handwriting isn't all I share with my grandmother. I'm her spitting image. Guess she thought I was her."

Dean speaks up, trying to lighten the mood, "So, what we've learned here today, kids, is that Sam is a failure at love and Cherry looks like her grandmother. Guys, we just killed a bad ass creature no one has been able to defeat in generations. Let's call it a night and go get some pie!"

"Oh!" Cherry says excitedly. "We don't have to go get pie. Do you think I'd bring Dean Winchester here and not have something for him?" She pulls a cooler out of the closet, reaches in, and pulls out a pie. "Baked it before I left home. Cherry, one of your favorites."

* * *

"There are still some things that don't make sense," Sam says later that night as the boys drive back to the bunker in their 67 Impala.

"Yeah, what's that?" Dean asks.

"Well, that thing, it hunted by smell, right? So it shouldn't have recognized Cherry, even if she does look like her grandmother."

"What are you saying, Sam?"

"I don't know. I just think there's more to her than just being a hunter, you know?"

"So, what, you think she's hiding something? Like what?"

"I don't know. But there's something about her that never made sense to me, and I never thought about it after she saved me from those vamps, well, because I never saw her again after that. But it was weird, you know? It wasn't long after you went to hell. I had been holed up for a couple of weeks trying to find a way to save you. I started to get cabin fever and kind of wanted to go out and kill something, so I started tracking that nest of vampires. And dude, it was a huge nest, like 10 or more vamps. They had no problem capturing me. How did this girl not even half my size take down that nest?"

"Really, Sam? All of this because some girl was tougher than you while you were in mourning? Really?"

"That's not all, Dean. She says she's from Vegas, right? Born and raised? Well, have you ever listened to her, like really listen to her voice? It's like, she's not from this country sometimes…almost British."

"Well, all of that may be so. She might be hiding something. But it doesn't matter because we probably won't see her again for another ten years."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Days later, Sam has been digging through the Men of Letters archives trying to find any information on the thing that tried to kill him. He couldn't find anything about the creature, but he did find something else interesting. He came across several boxes labelled "Immunity." As he started going through these boxes, he realized they contained files on creatures who gained immunity from the Men of Letters because they were not killers. He was thinking to himself how this could settle the debate about "friendly monsters" and if it was a good idea to let them live.

At that moment, he discovered a very interesting box that carried the same label, and the name of the creature was "Mina Harker." Intrigued by the famously familiar name, he had to open the box. The first folder Sam pulled out from the box turned out to be "A Synopsis from Abraham Van Helsing's journal regarding Dracula." Sam chuckled to himself, not surprised the Men of Letters would have such a verbose title on a relatively thin file folder. As he looked through the box, he found files from other Men of Letters, as well as photographs and even a film reel from the 1950s. The photographs caused Sam to do a double take as recognition hit him.

Sam ran into the conference room, shouting for his brother, "Dean, Dean, come in here, quick! You have to see this!" Sam could barely contain himself.

"What?" Dean wandered in, looking as if he just woke up. "This better be good for 3 o'clock in the morning."

Sam semi-glared at his brother, "Like you sleep anyway. Look, you just have to check this out."

"I'm guessing you must have found something on that creature that tried to kill you?"

"No. But I did find something on the person who killed it. There's a reason Cherry knew so much about the creature. She hunted it before."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Dean said incredulously. "That thing only attacks every 40 years. There's no way she hunted it before."

"She did if she was alive 40 years ago…or even say, 125 years ago," Sam stated mysteriously.

"Sam, if you don't start making sense in the next ten seconds, I'm going back to bed."

"Ok, ok. Just listen to me. I found all these boxes down in the archives labelled 'Immunity,' and they contain info on all of these creatures that the Men of Letters thought shouldn't be hunted."

"So, friendly monsters. I get it. But what does this have to do with Cherry?" Dean asks, clearly getting more annoyed by the minute.

"Will you just sit down and shut up?" Sam says, exasperated. This isn't the first time Dean wouldn't let him talk.

Dean sits and gives Sam a look that says, "Well, get on with it."

"Ok, so one of these boxes is for a creature named 'Mina Harker'. You know, from Dracula. Anyway, there's a bunch of pictures in this box. And, just look." He shows Dean a picture of a 50s pin up girl.

"Whoa! No frickin' way! She looks just like Cherry!" Dean exclaims.

"Exactly," Sam replies. "Now listen to this." He reads from a file he pulled from the box. "Name: Mina Harker. Species: Nosferatu. Known Aliases: Cicely St. Cloud, Deirdre Cox, Ginger O'Toole, and Lucy Westenra. That one is interesting, because Lucy Westenra was Mina's best friend in the novel."

"So, Dracula is real. And I slept with one of his brides? Is that what you're telling me? Awesome."

Rolling his eyes at his older brother, Sam continues, "Anyway, according to this, back in like, the 1890s, Jonathan and Mina Harker were hunters, and Abraham Van Helsing was a Man of Letters. While hunting Dracula, who they did kill by the way, Mina was turned, just like in the book. But, unlike the book, killing Dracula did not reverse it."

"Of course not," Dean replied, "because killing the sire never reverses the change."

"But," Sam continued, not hiding his annoyance at being interrupted, "Something happened that Van Helsing didn't share with the other Men of Letters that caused Mina to make a very firm promise to him and Jonathan that she would never kill an innocent person, never create another Nosferatu, and never drink someone's blood without their permission. To that end, Van Helsing made arrangements that the Men of Letters would interview her every 20 years or so to ensure she was standing up to her promise. If not, they'd send a hunter after her. Same thing if she just didn't make her scheduled appointment."

Dean starts rifling through the box. "There's a film reel in here. Did you watch it yet?"

"Nope. What do you think, movie night?"

"Absolutely."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Dean pops some popcorn while Sam sets up the projector. They settle into some comfy chairs and the film starts. The boys look at each other in surprise as not only one, but two familiar faces come on the screen. Their grandfather, Henry Winchester, is conducting the interview.

Henry looks into the camera, and says, a bit nervously at first, "This is Henry Winchester of the Men of Letters. The date is October 31, 1957. Conducting a scheduled interview with the Nosferatu Mina Harker, currently known as Lucy Westenra." He then looks over at his interviewee, "Not a very clever alias this time, Ms. Westenra."

"It's called 'hiding in plain sight' Mr. Winchester," she replies, her British accent clearly noticeable.

"Ah, so you think you're clever?"

"Not actually. Honestly, I just got tired of coming up with new identities. And…I miss my friend." She didn't even try to hide the sadness in her last statement.

"Oh, I see," Henry replied, getting a bit flustered at the creature's sudden burst of human emotion.

She looks up at him from where she's seated, something dark flashing behind her blue eyes. "What? You're surprised a monster like me could have feelings?"

"Um, no," Henry stammers, "I just wasn't expecting you to be so open about them." He takes the seat across from her. "Now, shall we begin?"

"You know, Henry, there's a really easy way to show you that I haven't broken my promise. We can actually skip all of these questions." Mina informs him.

"Yes, I know," Henry says, "It's the same offer you make to every Man of Letters who talks to you. You can drink my blood and we'll be psychically linked. You can show me that you've kept your promise."

"And so far, none of you Men of Letters has been brave enough to try it. I won't kill you, you know. I can drink blood and not have the urge to kill. I'm not a vampire after all."

"Yes, well, I'm not frightened," he said a little shakily as he unbuttoned his shirt sleeve and rolled it up. "I think it's important to see what you can show me." He reaches his slightly shaking arm towards her.

Mina gingerly takes his wrist and looks into his eyes, "Are you sure about this? This process can be a bit…intimate. And it will definitely hurt you more than it will hurt me," she adds for emphasis.

"I'm sure," he replies with a bit more confidence. "It's important to know the things we study as completely as possible."

She raises a perfectly shaped eyebrow at him. "Things?" she says with a bit of humor in her voice.

"I-I didn't mean it like that," Henry starts to stammer.

"I know," Mina says, before gripping his wrist tightly and biting into it.

"Stop the film! Stop the film!" Dean shouts, jumping up and covering his eyes. "Son of a bitch! Our family is going to need ALL the therapy!"

Sam looks at him with a mixture of amusement and surprise as he stops the film. "Dude, it's not like they slept together. She just bit him."

"Yeah, well, that's worse!" Dean exclaims, "Or, at least it's the same. Geez…do you think she exchanged bodily fluids with Dad too?"

"Dean, that's just gross," Sam chides him. "Now, can we get back to this?"

"Yeah, I guess."

When they restart the film, Mina is sitting across from an unconscious Henry, waiting for him to recover from their shared link. He slowly starts to come too. "Are you alright?" she asks, clearly concerned.

"Yes, I think so. That was incredible. I mean, I must have read your stories a hundred times, but to be able to see it like you saw it. You've helped a lot of people. You even saved the life of one of us. My report will reflect that your immunity should continue." He turns his chair towards the camera and addresses it. "I can't describe what exactly happened here today, but it is very clear that Ms. Mina Harker has not only kept her promises not to harm anyone, but has exceeded it by saving lives in the process."

The reel runs to the end of the film, and Sam packs it back into the box when something else catches his eye. "Um, Dean, I think you need to see this."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Sam pulls a very old photo out of the box. In the photo are a group of people in Victorian clothing. In this photo, there is only one person he should recognize…instead, he recognizes four out of five of them. "Dean! You need to see this!"

The photo is labelled: Abraham Van Helsing, Jonathan Harker, Mina Harker, John Seward, and James Novak, 1893. The surprising thing was, Mina was not the only person he recognized. Dean takes one look at the picture and says, "What the hell? I don't remember posing for that picture. And is that Bobby? And Cas? What the hell is this?"

"This is Van Helsing, the Harkers, Dr. Seward, and someone named…wait for it…James Novak. Who, incidentally was NOT in the book," Sam explains.

"So, wait, why do these people look like our people?" Dean asks.

"That is the question of the hour," Sam says.

"I think it's time to call Cherry, or Mina, or whoever the hell she is and tell her it's time for her interview with the Men of Letters. Why don't you call her, Sam?"

"Why me?" Sam asks, "She's your former lover…and apparently wife," he waves the picture around to emphasize "wife."

"Because you should just call her, that's why. And I think Cas needs to be here too. I'll call him."

"You do realize that these could just be pictures of our relatives, right? That's most likely not even Cas at all, but an ancestor of his vessel," Sam states.

"Yeah, well, he was still around back then. Maybe he knows something," Dean said as if it made sense, when in reality he just wanted Castiel around to help figure things out.

"Fine, you call Cas and I'll call Mina, and we'll get both of them to come here. Although, even if Cas knew anything, Naomi erased his memory so many times, he may not know what he knows."

"Did that sentence make sense?" Dean asks with a grin before dialing his phone and walking away.

Sam dials a number on his phone, hoping Mina still has the number she texted them from. After what feels like infinite rings, a female voice finally answers. "Hello?"

"It's Sam Winchester. We need to talk. It's time for your long overdue appointment with the Men of Letters, Mina."

"Ah, so you found my file in that big old bunker of yours. It's about time. You have no idea how much harder things can be when there's no one to help hold you accountable," Mina tells him.

"Actually, I do," Sam replies, "But this isn't about me. How soon can you get here?"

"I never left town after our last meeting, so I'm close. I can be there in a couple of hours."

"You knew I'd call, didn't you?"

"I had a feeling. See you soon," she says as she hangs up on him.

When Sam walks back into the conference room, Dean and Castiel are already there waiting for him.

"Mina is on her way. She'll be here in a couple of hours. How did you get here so fast?" Sam turns the inquiry towards Castiel.

"I was already on my way here when Dean called." The angel answered matter-of-factly.

The men sit at the end of the conference table, Dean and Sam sitting across from each other and Castiel at the head of the table between them. They pass the picture back and forth, staring at it. A couple of hours have passed, and none of them have been able to come up with an explanation.

"Do we time travel again?" Dean asks. "I mean, is it possible that we time travel back to frickin' Victorian England and it just hasn't happened yet?"

"With our lives, anything is possible," Sam states.

"Who is this?" Castiel asks, pointing to Mina. "She seems familiar to me, but I can't put my finger on it."

"Is it possible that this is one of the memories that Naomi erased?" Sam asks.

"Wait, no I remember." He looks at Dean, "It was while you were in hell. She prayed to me, pleading with me to do something. That Dean Winchester does not belong in hell, that it wasn't his destiny. I remember how unusual it was for a prayer to reach me in heaven, especially from someone who's not human. She's not human, is she?"

"No, she's not," Dean answers. "She's a monster, who has apparently been granted immunity by our grandfather, among other Men of Letters."

"Then her prayers should not have been able to reach me. She shouldn't have even known my name, unless…"

"Unless it is you in that picture," Sam interrupts.

"Yes, that would explain her knowledge of me, but there's still no way I should have heard her. We only hear prayers from humans."

At that moment, Sam's phone rings. "It's Mina," he says as he answers it.

"Tell Castiel he could hear me because we're linked. I'll explain more once you let me in."

"You heard all that?" Sam asked incredulously.

"Yes. I have super human hearing. You should have seen that in my file. What I don't have is the ability to get through the warding on this bloody bunker, so can you please come let me in?"

"Yeah, sure, I'll be right there." Sam puts his phone away and addresses the guys. "I have to go let Mina in. Apparently, among her many gifts, passing through Men of Letters warding isn't one of them. Oh, and Cas, she says the two of you are linked, that's why she could pray to you." On that, he leaves to let their guest in.

"Linked? What the hell does that mean?" Dean asks no one in particular, then turning to Castiel, he asks, "How are you linked? To a frickin' monster?"

"Dean, I really have no idea," Castiel says softly. "I find this whole situation mildly disturbing."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Sam escorts Mina into the conference room where the others are waiting. Dean and Castiel stand in greeting. Mina smiles brightly when she sees Castiel. "Castiel," she breathes and moves in to give him a hug. The angel stands there stiffly and she backs away. "Right. You don't remember me."

"Do you want to tell us just what the hell is going on?" Dean asks in aggravation. "And what is up with this?" He holds the picture out towards Mina for emphasis.

"Right," Mina responds. Now that she's been discovered, she makes no effort to hide her British accent. "Grab some drinks and sit down." She looks pointedly at Dean. "You're going to need it."

Once the men have retaken their original seats at the conference table, Mina lithely climbs onto the table top and sits cross legged, facing the three men. She picks up the photograph and looks at it wistfully. "This picture was taken right after the worst pain of my life was replaced by one of the greatest joys." She presses soft fingertip kisses to two spots on the photo. Pink stained tears begin to fall from her blue eyes before she can stop them. Mina takes a deep breath and pushes her long red braids behind her shoulders. "I'm not quite sure where to begin. I suppose this picture." She holds it up towards the men and points to the people in the photograph as she talks. "This is Abraham Van Helsing," she points to the person who looks like the Winchesters' surrogate father, Bobby Singer. "He was like a leader and a father to all of us."

Dean starts to speak up to ask a question, but Castiel puts a hand on his forearm to stop him. "Let her speak, your questions may be answered."

Mina gives Castiel a grateful look. She takes another deep breath before continuing. "This is Dr. John Seward," this time she points to the one unfamiliar face in the picture. "I'm afraid he never truly recovered from the death of my dear friend, Lucy Westenra. He was never the same." She sighed again, looking at the photograph longingly before she continued. "My husband, Jonathan Harker. One of the best men I've ever known." Here, she pointed at the Dean clone. "And finally, yes, Castiel, this is you in the photograph." She looks intently into his deep blue eyes, willing him to remember.

The two stared at each other like that for at least a minute before Castiel finally drops his gaze. "I'm sorry, I just don't remember."

Not being able to hold back any longer, Dean interrupts. "I'm sorry, but why do these people look like me and Bobby?"

Castiel is the one who answers him. "Reincarnation is the only logical answer. That also explains my vessel now bearing such a striking resemblance to my vessel of then."

Mina nods. "Yes. That is the reason you were sent to us in the first place." She sets the picture down on the table in front of her, her fingertips brushing it lightly. "These people, they were my friends, my family, my lovers." Mina's words dropped almost to a whisper as the memories she had tried to forget swept over her.

Dean, wanting answers, no matter what, interrupted her thoughts. "Do you want to run that last part by us again?"

Forcing herself to regain her light heartedness simply looks at Dean and says, "What? Why do Americans insist that 1960s hippies invented the concept of 'free love'? Every era has it. We just hid it better back then. Jonathan was my husband, the love of my life. But, he was not the only one. Lucy and I were much more than just friends. When Dr. Seward and I both lost her, we sought comfort with each other."

"And what about me?" Castiel asks. "Why did you say we're connected?"

"Well," Mina begins, "I've tasted your grace."

"That's not possible," Castiel protests.

Mina reaches down into her flannel shirt and pulls out a small blade. "Yes, it is." She sets the knife down on the table, and all the guys recognize that it resembles an angel blade. "It's an athame. Castiel had it forged for me when he was trying to convince us of his mission."

"What was my mission?" the angel asks in wonder.

"You were supposed to convince Jonathan to take my head," Mina answers, matter-of-factly.

All three men look up at her in surprise, a collective "What?" fills the room.

Mina can't help but laugh at their reaction. "Well, clearly it didn't work."

"But, why?" Sam asks. "Why would Heaven care enough about a Nosferatu to send an angel to kill it? And to make her husband do it? That doesn't make sense."

"Angels are dicks," Dean and Mina answer in unison. "Except for Cas," they both add.

Mina continues. "Reincarnation is why. Do you guys remember that big bad end of the world thing you prevented?"

"Which time?" This time it was Sam and Dean who answer in unison.

"The apocalypse," Mina continues. "The Arch Angels had a very specific idea about how it was supposed to go down. And they had a very specific idea of who they wanted in place when it happened."

"Yes," Castiel added, "I remember this. There was talk that the ones destined for the apocalypse had to be very skilled hunters, and they wanted to make sure the skills would come to them naturally."

Mina nods. "Well before the story of Dracula that most people think they know, Jonathan Harker was one of the greatest hunters in all of Europe. And I was one of the most skilled practitioners of white magic. When Jonathan and Van Helsing rescued what was left of my coven from a coven of dark practitioners, I too became a hunter. Apparently the Powers that Be wanted both a skilled hunter and a skilled witch for the End of Days."

"So you're a witch too?" Dean asks. "Son of a bitch. I hate witches."

"Practitioners of light magic don't spew their bodily fluids, Dean." Sam says, rolling his eyes at his brother. Then he looks up at Mina. "So, what you're saying is that they," he looks up towards the sky, "They wanted you and Jonathan to come back as me and Dean?"

"In a nutshell, yes," Mina answers. "That's why they sent Castiel down. It was his job to have me beheaded and escort my soul to Heaven for recycling. If I'm killed without an escort into Heaven, my soul goes directly to Purgatory. Do not pass go, do not collect $200, do not get sent back to Earth."

"So Sammy was supposed to be a girl?" Dean asks, humor sparkling in his green eyes.

"So whose soul did I get?" Sam asked.

"You're brand new," Castiel answers. "Or, well, you were…before the cage." The angel looks back to Mina. "So, what happened? Obviously I didn't have you killed."

"That's because you couldn't," Mina looks at him with soft eyes. "You ended up falling in love with Jonathan, and by extension, me."

Everyone sat in stunned silence at that revelation, and they wanted to hear more. Before they could ask her to continue, Mina lost her balance and nearly toppled off of the table.

"I'm sorry boys, but I'm going to have to pick this back up this tomorrow night. It's getting near dawn, and I haven't fed in days. I need to find some bagged blood and a safe place to sleep for the day."

"There are no windows here," Sam says. "How can you tell that it's near dawn?"

"I can feel it," Mina answers simply. "Really, I need to go."

"You can stay here," Sam volunteers. "We have plenty of extra rooms."

"That's sweet, Sam, but I also need to feed." Mina protests.

Sam hits a few buttons on his laptop. "There's a blood bank nearby. We'll make a food run."

"We will?" Dean asks.

"Yes." Sam insists. Dean knows better than to argue with Sammy when he's made up his mind about certain things.

Sam shows Mina to a spare room, and then he, Dean, and Cas head out to commit larceny at the blood bank.


End file.
